St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1887-03-17
The Bother of Riches.
The Otfiper.

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A minister preaching against the
love of money had frequently repeated
that it was '.the root of all evil
! Walking home from church, one old
person said to the Other-''An' wasna
the minister strang about the money n
"Nae Doubt" said the other; and add
ed, "Ay, but it's grand to haze the wee
bit siller in your hand when we gang
an Grand" We quite agree with this,
and believe in the "needful." It's
to have the price of food and clothes,
and we are not at all averse to little
pocket money, but after a modest suf
ficiency has been realized, what is the
use of fretting and working for more !
Is enough not enough Nature has
placed limit to the personal indulg-
ences of each, and it is impossible for
anyone to consume more than so much.
We may spend 5000 to E 900 year
ly, but the bulk of it must return to
whence it came, in the payment of lat
Dor or profit to the distributor. The
money is beneficial to many, and no.
solely to its pOssessOr. "When goods
are increased, they are increased that
eat them and what good is there to
the owners thereof, saving the behold
ing of them with their eyes 7"
A rich man is an agent who manages
what he is pleased to call his property
for the good of others. Burke used to
say that the dependent pensioners
called the rich are trustees for those
who labor, and their boards are the
banking houses of these latter" There
is sound philosophy in the answer
king is related to have given to IA sta
BILE boy. Meeting him one morning he
asked him; "Well, boy, what do you
dol What do they pay you 2" 81
help in the STABLE" replied the lad
"but have nothing except victuals
and Clothes" "Be content" replied
the king; 81 have no more"
In meeting assembled to make ar
rangements for the last preaching cam
paign of Mr.. Moody, the American
evangelist, one of the speakers ex-
pressed his hope that MIR. Moody
would "do something for the miserable
poor of London" 81 will try and do
So" was the preachers reply ''and l
hope also to be able to do something
for the miserable rich" "The miser-
able rich !" Some would think the ex-
preston almost Il contradiction IN
terms, but it is not, for the rich have
many things to render them unhappy.
The poor in sleep forget their misery,
but too often the rich are tortured by
They suffer from ennui
-''that awful yawn which sleep can
not dispel." The French tinancier ex-
claimed, calais why is there no sleep
to be sold 2" Sleep was not in the
market at any quotation. Bacon said
that money is ''like muck-nOt much
use unless spread" 1t is nothing to
him who docs not know how to use it
wisely and, on the other hand, pow
erty is nothing when it is not felt. Ifl
you mix with people better off than
yourself, you feel poor; but it may be
only by contrast, for perhaps you do
not really want more than you have.
In one of his stories a well-knOwn
writer describes the effect upon poor
teacher of legacy of FL, 200 a year.
Suddenly the cottage he has lived in
for SO many years seems to have grown
very small-the furniture looks old
and worn. Claire had never remarked
the fact before, but she now perceived
clearly that there was no longer any
possibility of tracing the pattern of the
carpet, that the curtains were dingy,
the coverings of the chairs faded, the
table rickety. "The poor old furni-
ture !" said Claire, "must that go Yet
it is frightfully shabby" "The poison
is eating into our SOULS" her father
went on with deeper gloom. "For
twenty years and more have thought
this little salon u model of good taste.
Claire, when we go into large house,
we will keep the old furniture all in ii
room by itself, whittier we can go and
remind ourselves of the past. If we
are to be rich we must never forget
that we were once poor and happy"